Crown seeking 3 years in stabbing

The Crown is looking for up to three years’ jail for the man who drunkenly stabbed his friend in a Summerland orchard.

Joshua James Doell was found guilty of aggravated assault after a three-day trial on June 8, 2017.

On Nov. 18, 2015, Doell and a friend were drunk and in a truck parked in an orchard when Doell struck the man without provocation.

The victim, 32 years old at the time of the offence, testified at trial that Doell turned in his seat and punched him several times in the face, then pinned him down and stabbed him in the back with a chef’s knife.

After punching Doell in the face and making his escape, the bloodied victim was able to flag down help from passing cars on Highway 97.

Doell was later found by police hiding in a chicken coop in a barn on the orchard.

The victim, whom the Herald has decided not to name, said Monday via a statement he is still working through health problems caused by the stabbing and lives with some degree of fear due to the fact Summerland is a small town.

“My spouse and I, we are constantly watching people around us wherever we go to avoid being confronted in case he is incidentally there,” the statement said.

Crown counsel Kurt Froehlich proposed a sentence of two to three years imprisonment. He noted Doell was also convicted of an unrelated assault that occurred seven months prior to the stabbing.

Defence counsel Norm Yates suggested a jail sentence of 16 months, adding that his client has been on bail for two years.

Yates said Doell is “typically a peaceful person,” and plays lounge piano in a Summerland pub.

Yates described the offence as a “nasty incident between two friends,” who were “much drunker than they ought to have been.”

“He has advised me he’s distressed, he feels remorse, he feels sorry and apologizes to his friend for the injuries that he caused,” Yates said on behalf of his client.

Judge Meg Shaw reserved her decision until an undetermined date.